Statutes Amendment (Budget Measures) Bill – Second Reading speech
Tuesday 27 August 2024
S.E. ANDREWS (Gibson) (17:42): I rise to indicate my support for the Statutes Amendment (Budget Measures) Bill 2024, as this bill delivers for all South Australians. So many of us in this place grew up in a time when it was expected that by the time you reach adulthood you would be well on your way to achieving and buying your first home, but unfortunately that is no longer the case. But this Labor government has a plan, and we have already undertaken record land releases to make home ownership a possibility. Additionally, we are delivering the first positive investment in public housing in decades.
It shows what a united Labor government can achieve, more in 2½ years than so many governments in four. We are investing in a broad range of areas that affect the lives of South Australians and delivering legislative reform that makes our community safer, reduces costs and red tape and strengthens the rights of our citizens in a number of areas.
In last year's state budget, the government scrapped stamp duty for first-home buyers for new homes up to $650,000 and land up to $400,000. However, as announced in the 2024-25 state budget, this bill abolishes the property value thresholds completely. It reads 'if the contract for the conveyance or transfer was entered into on or after 6 June 2024—no duty will be payable'.
This bill also increases the property value cap previously placed on the First Home Owner Grant to $650,000, with this applicable for contracts entered into on or after 6 June 2024. First-home buyers will save $30 million over four years, which is $30 million they will now have the opportunity to spend at our local South Australian businesses. It means a first-home buyer who buys a newly constructed home broadly in line with Adelaide's median house price of $750,000 will receive $50,000 in relief, including the First Home Owner Grant of $15,000.
The stamp duty exemption will be available to all eligible first-home buyers who buy a new home, including a house, flat, unit, townhouse or apartment, an off-the-plan apartment, a house and land package, or vacant land to build a new home.
I am proud to be part of a state government that is making home ownership a reality for many South Australians, and for those who, due to circumstances so often beyond their control, cannot enter the market there is a fairer private rental system and more public housing for those in their greatest need.
I also have the Oaklands Green project powering along in my electorate, delivering more than 680 new homes as part of South Australia's largest social housing regeneration project in decades. It is good to see new quality homes for a mix of new owners, including first-home buyers, being built at Oaklands Green, and in many other smaller projects across Gibson.
In exciting news, these residents, just off Morphett Road, will now be able to drive down and go under the new tram underpass being built at the Morphett Road and Anzac Highway intersection. This has been a troublesome bottleneck for decades, and so many residents in Gibson are going to benefit from this infrastructure project, including those heading into the city for work and particularly when you are coming home along Anzac Highway. This is another project the Liberals failed to deliver but that they now want to take credit for. Only the Malinauskas Labor government is improving South Australian roads and public transport and building the future.
I was also pleased that the 2024-25 state budget announced the refurbishment of the Drew Court Housing Trust complex in my electorate. It is the most significant investment at this site since it was first developed in the postwar period. This has followed advocacy by myself as the local member on behalf of the tenants and also the surrounding residents. Everybody believes that people should have a decent house to live in and not one that is crumbling. It is a great location, next to the Oaklands railway station, nice parks and the Marion shops just a short drive away. I so look forward to seeing the new Drew Court when it is complete.
This bill also amends the Payroll Tax Act 2009, which sees the Malinauskas government deliver permanent tax cuts to GP practices which offer bulk billed GP services. The state government will exempt the wages earned by GPs for bulk billed services provided to patients. This provides protection for current bulk billed patients and an additional incentive for GP practices to bulk bill. I commend this bill to the house.
